Zhejiang province

Zhejiang province is one of China's wealthiest and most developed provinces, with a long history and one of China's most noble cities, Hangzhou. Hangzhou features the West Lake, for which it has been renowned since historic times including Marco Polo. Hangzhou was also China's capital during the Southern Song Dynasty. Zhejiang is also where my maternal grandparents hail from, which is why I specifically visited Daishan, Zhoushan in a trip in 2011. Zhoushan is comprised entirely of islands, including the holy island of Putuoshan. Besides Hangzhou and Zhoushan, I've been to Ningbo, a booming port city that was one of the first treaty ports open to the West after the Opium Wars.